


Once It Was Him, Twice It Was Bridger

by stardustgirl



Series: Rebels Oneshots [29]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: 1 + 2, Alternate Ending to s04e01-02 Heroes of Mandalore, Angst, Heavy Angst, Star Wars Rebels: Heroes of Mandalore, Tristan Wren Appreciation Week, Tristan Wren Appreciation Week 2018, three times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-21 22:19:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16585313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustgirl/pseuds/stardustgirl
Summary: One time Tristan did it, and twice Bridger did.Or; three different ways “Heroes of Mandalore” could’ve ended.{Tristan Wren Appreciation Week 2018}





	Once It Was Him, Twice It Was Bridger

**Author's Note:**

> Tristan Wren Appreciation Week 2018
> 
> Day Seven: “Sacrifice/Free Day”

Someone stumbled into him and he turned, raising a blaster before lowering it in confusion.

“Bridger?”

“I finished my mission; now I have to finish yours, too?” the older teen quipped.

“The data core was the easier mission,” Tristan responded, something stirring in his chest at the implication that this- this _Jedi_ was better at an infiltration than he was—though admittedly, that was probably true.

“Will you two _knock it off?!_ ” Rau called from a few meters away as he fired another charge.

“Where’s Sabine?”

Tristan raised his hand to point as he answered Bridger. “Up the—“

A clunk as a detonator hit the floor near them. Tristan saw it at the same time as Bridger and Rau did.

He reacted quicker than they did, shoving Bridger out of the way and yelling for him and Rau to take cover as he turned to throw it out of the area.

He was a second too late.

Sabine didn’t know until afterward, on the way back to Clan Kryze’s camp.

Ezra never forgave himself.

Rau cursed the Empire again and continued to take the fight to them.

But it was Ursa’s flat inquiry and questioning gaze that gave them pause upon return to the ship.

“Jedi, where is my son?”

 

* * *

 

 

Hearing someone come up behind him suddenly, he turned to see the younger Jedi.

“Bridger?”

“I finished my mission; now I have to finish yours, too?” the older teen teased.

“The data core was the easier mission,” Tristan replied, anger flaring up at the implication that this- this _Jedi_ was better at something than he was.

“Will you two _knock it off?!_ ” Rau shouted from a few meters to their left as he fired again at a ‘trooper getting a bit too close for comfort.

“Where’s Sabine?”

Tristan pointed in answer to Bridger. “Up there.”

Bridger nodded and darted away, hopefully to help Sabine and Lady Kryze.

Tristan and Rau continued to fight, slowly moving further inside the hangar. Several minutes after Bridger had run off, there was an explosion, and molten metal began to seep from the base of the room above the hangar where an inconsistent blue glow had been for the past several minutes. He paused and glanced at Rau just before the glass of the room shattered and three figures with jetpacks emerged.

The group fled the Destroyer as the flames spread.

It was only when they reached the ship that they realized one of the Mandalorians had come from the Destroyer and not their own—Captain Hark, he called himself.

And it was only then that they realized that Bridger had remained on the Destroyer to ensure their escape.

 

* * *

 

 

They were fleeing the Destroyer above Sundari when his jetpack malfunctioned.

Bridger noticed he was lagging, saw that he was drifting dangerously close to the floor of the hangar.

“Take mine!” Bridger yelled, flying closer.

“No, yo—“

“I’m a Jedi! I’ll be fine!”

They landed just long enough to switch jetpacks, and Tristan thought Bridger was behind him the whole way back.

Bridger never had any intention of trying to be.

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Heroes of Mandalore last night at 1 AM and it resulted in angst ideas so


End file.
